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Sunday 6 March 2016

Icy madness

When I read this nonsense reported by WUWT I passed over it as yet another example of academic insanity.

Glaciers, gender, and science: A feminist glaciology framework for global environmental change research

Abstract
Glaciers are key icons of climate change and global environmental change. However, the relationships among gender, science, and glaciers – particularly related to epistemological questions about the production of glaciological knowledge – remain understudied. This paper thus proposes a feminist glaciology framework with four key components: 1) knowledge producers; (2) gendered science and knowledge; (3) systems of scientific domination; and (4) alternative representations of glaciers. Merging feminist postcolonial science studies and feminist political ecology, the feminist glaciology framework generates robust analysis of gender, power, and epistemologies in dynamic social-ecological systems, thereby leading to more just and equitable science and human-ice interactions.


Yet the bilge was thought fit to publish and those who wrote it presumably thought they were adding to the sum of human knowledge. Or did they? Is this approach a covert form of special pleading? Has most modern feminism degenerated into a stridently obnoxious form of special pleading? 

Among the comments is this interesting observation from someone calling herself Aphan. Follow the WUWT link to read her comment in full.

Well, I’m a woman and I’ve read the article twice and it still makes no sense to me...

That isn’t equal treatment. That’s lowering the bar. That’s demeaning. That’s pandering. And it’s embarrassing to ALL women who feel like every woman (and man) should be allowed and encouraged to do whatever she wants to do with her life without ANY denigration or ridicule from anyone else. The ONLY “gender” that has ever tried to insult or demean me for making life choices that they personally didn’t approve of…is feminist women.

5 comments:

Sam Vega said...

What colour are glaciers? They're white, aren't they?

A K Haart said...

Sam - white, old and slow to change.

James Higham said...

Regarding ice, we saw quite a few gritting stations around on our trip yesterday. New ice age expected?

Demetrius said...

I'll stick with the Zefferelli production of "Turandot" from The Met.

A K Haart said...

James - I wouldn't bet on it, but you never know.

Demetrius - I'll stick with a good book.